This invention relates to a coffee bean roaster and more particularly to a coffee bean roaster employing a hot gaseous stream in a roasting chamber to fluidize and roast the beans in which the interior of the roasting chamber can be observed during operation.
Apparatus for the roasting of coffee beans using hot gas flows are known in the prior art. One example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,175 issued Jun. 22, 1976 to Sivetz. The Sivetz patent discloses a rectangularly shaped chamber housing a funnel shaped chamber which is partially filed with green coffee beans. A hot gas stream flow is introduced through a screen forming a portion of the lower end of the funnel and the beans are fluidized and roasted. Viewing ports permit a review of the operation of the device. Still another U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,171 issued Feb. 9, 1993 to Bersten describes a roaster that continuously fluidizes and recirculates the beans into the main hot gas stream. U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,623 issued Mar. 7, 1995 to Sewell describes a roaster that fluidizes the coffee beans in a hot air stream for roasting and a temperature sensing device for injecting a spray of water into the gas stream at a point up stream of the roasting chamber to cool and quench the beans.
The prior art lacks a roasting device that can provide a merchandising capability to operations inviting consumers into the premises. The consumers have no way of easily seeing the roasting operation during actual roasting of beans. Still other disadvantages are the need to shut down the roasting operation while cooling the beans, the development of significant heat being transferred to outer surfaces making it undesirable to use the device in commercial establishments, difficulty in removing the beans from the apparatus, and complex cleaning steps required to clean the interior surfaces of the roasting apparatus.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a roasting system that can maximize the merchandising of roasted coffee beans and beverages made from the beans through making the roasting and cooling operations highly visible to potential consumers.
It is still another object of the present invention to utilize hot gaseous streams to fluidize and roast the coffee beans at temperatures sufficient to roast but not char the beans.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide for a coffee bean roasting system that permits the simultaneous roasting of one batch of coffee beans while cooling a batch of roasted coffee beans.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for a coffee bean roasting system that overcomes the propensity of coffee beans stacking and sticking to interior surface and permits reliable and complete removal of the coffee beans from the roasting chamber into a cooling chamber.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide for a coffee bean roasting system that incorporates convenient loading of coffee beans into the roasting chamber and facilitates access to the interior of the system for cleaning residue on the surfaces thereof.